John D. Johnson
Medical Practice in Huntsville, AL

4743097, May 10, 1988

Apr 6, 1987

7/034356

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL
Don A. Gregory - Huntsville AL
James C. Kirsch - Huntsville AL

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

G02F 113, G02B 2746

350337

Incoherent optical processing techniques are shown which demonstrate image intensity normalization and contour enhancement. A new type of incoherent optical correlator which combines a model of the human neural system with an intensity image convolver. The processor's principal element is a Hughes liquid crystal light valve (LCLV). All components are commercially available and used without modification except for a liquid crystal television (LCLV). In operation the invention can be used as either a pre-processor to intensity normalize and edge enhance video scenes for use in pattern recognition applications or as a real-time pattern recognition device within itself, with the addition of an LCTV.

5664065, Sep 2, 1997

Jun 17, 1996

8/668029

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

G06F 1500

395 21

The pulse-coupled automatic recognition system processes information utilizing parallel neural network and transmits information to and from the processing sites as time signals which encode in their pulse phase structure the geometrical content of the spatial distributions of light. A locating device then measures the coordinates of the spatial distributions (pulsating segment) and displays the coordinates of the pulsating segment on a screen for observation. The pulsating segment indicates the presence and location of the component of the input scene that corresponds to the segment.

4624563, Nov 25, 1986

Dec 5, 1983

6/558000

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

G01C 100, G01J 400

356152

A laser position sensor system for viewing a wide field of view for detecting the angular position of a remote laser. A laser beam directed toward the sensor from any position within a 90 degree circular field-of-view can be detected to a positional accuracy of less than 0. 1 degree in a two-axis coordinate system. The system utilizes two parallel sensors having field-of-view optics that compress the field-of-view. The compressed output from each optics is directed through a polarizer and filter to a phase shifter. The phase shifter, a pair of birefringent crystals, encodes the angle of incidence of the laser beam as a phase shift between the two components of the polarized input beam. These components, the e-ray and the o-ray travel different paths through the phase shifter. Subsequently, an analyzer such as a Wollaston prism decomposes the beam into two linear components.

6275327, Aug 14, 2001

Mar 22, 1999

9/272535

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL
William A. Friday - Huntsville AL
Gary L. Wood - Ellicott City MD

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

H01S 310

359336

The all-optical pulse generating and amplifying system utilizes a phosphor that is excited by input light of a first wavelength and, in response, emits light of a second wavelength. The light emitted by the phosphor illuminates a bistable element which, at a pre-fixed intensity of the phosphor-emitted light, switches from non-transmissive state to transmissive state, thereby allowing the exit of light (also of first wavelength) emitted by an output light source as light pulse output of the system. An inhibitory light that also passes through the bistable element during its transmissive state quenches the phosphor light emission and returns the bistable element to its non-transmissive state and re-starts the process toward the next transmissive state. By gating the intensity, via selected non-linearity of the bistable element, of the light output in proportion to the intensity of the input light, the system can also function as an amplifier.

5485305, Jan 16, 1996

Apr 3, 1995

8/416024

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

G02B 2300, G02B 1700

359407

A lightweight telescopic lens of monolithic construction is revealed that corporates additional refractive and reflective curved surfaces to produce all the optical functions performed by an ordinary telescope. A pair of such lenses may be mounted in an eyeglass frame to yield a telescope that can be worn like a pair of eyeglasses, thus affording superior image stability as well as free the user's hands. Minor modifications involving the use of several menisci of a different index of refraction from that of the core lens can be made to achieve achromatism of emergent light from achromatic input light. The entire core lens can also be shaped into a meniscus to take advantage of the principle of total internal reflection, thereby increasing the light-gathering aperture while at the same time rendering the lens even more compact and lightweight.

5191392, Mar 2, 1993

Sep 9, 1991

7/757054

John L. Johnson - Huntsville AL

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

G01B 902

356353

The White Light Optical Fourier Transform Device comprises symmetrical wedges of uniaxial birefringent crystal placed on either side of a half-wave plate to induce an angle between the wavefronts of the polarized components of the beam travelling through the device. The wavefront tilt angle of the output beam is shown to be linearly proportional to the angle of incidence. This is sufficient to generate the necessary phase factor for a Fourier transform of the incident intensity image.